Though he had what many would describe as a dream job, Steven Tiller always felt like something was missing.

After building an impressive career at footwear brands like Cole Haan and Sperry, Tiller still felt like he was in search of his life's work. That is, until he walked into a secondhand shop in Tokyo while on a trend scouting trip to Japan. It was there, behind glass, that he spotted a pair of what he'd later learn were original SeaVees sneakers from the early 1960s. And they changed everything. "It stopped me in my tracks," Tiller told us from inside SeaVees flagship store in Santa Barbara, CA. "And I was thinking, perhaps this could be what I've been looking for."

A native of Oklahoma, Tiller says from an early age he could hear California calling. But it wasn't until this fateful moment across the globe that his great migration would begin. When he got back from Tokyo, he started digging into this brand he’d discovered. He learned that half a century earlier, SeaVees had introduced the country to the idea of casual dress at a time when it was virtually non-existent. This idea of California cool, Tiller says, still resonated. Not only that, he saw an opportunity to see his California dreams realized. And so, nearly 40 years after its original debut, Tiller re-founded the SeaVees we know today.

We took a trip out to SeaVees HQ to chat with Tiller about that seminal trip to Tokyo, the evolution of the SeaVees brand, and the elements of that original sneaker you can still see in his designs today.

Meet the Maker: SeaVees with Steven Tiller